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Could Christ Return Without Being Seen?The Watchtower—1981 | December 1
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The key to understanding the whole matter lies in the question that four of Christ’s disciples posed to their Master as they viewed Jerusalem and its temple from the nearby Mount of Olives. Jesus had startled them by prophesying that the temple, the very center of Jewish worship at that time, would be utterly destroyed. So they asked him: “Tell us, When will these things be, and what will be the sign of your presence [Greek, parousía] and of the conclusion of the system of things?”
Now, maybe you would like to compare that text, quoted from the New World Translation, with your own copy of the Bible. According to the Authorized Version and the American Standard Version, this text reads: “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” The New English Bible reads: “What will be the signal for your coming and the end of the age?” And The Living Bible says: “What events will signal your return, and the end of the world?”—Matt. 24:3.
The various translations noted here have put many people off the track with regard to the true meaning and application of Jesus’ answer to his disciples. It is one thing for events to indicate that someone is coming or returning, and something entirely different for events to prove that the awaited person has already arrived. Perhaps you have experienced this while waiting for someone at an airport or a train station. There is the same subtle shade of difference between Christ’s returning and the “presence” of him as being already here. Does that surprise you?
But how can we know which is the more precise translation—“presence” or “coming”? Let us turn to another text that uses the same Greek word parousía and see how it is translated in certain previously quoted Bibles. For example, at Philippians 2:12 we read: “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence [Greek, parousía] only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Authorized Version) Now here The New English Bible says: “So you too, my friends, must be obedient, as always; even more, now that I am away, than when I was with you.” Compare Philippians 1:26, which uses parousías.a
What words are here used as the translation of parousía? “Presence” and “with you.” “Arrival” or “coming” would not fit. Incidentally, the specific Greek word for “coming,” eleúsis, was used by the Christian martyr Stephen when he presented the following forthright question in his defense before the Jewish Sanhedrin court: “Which one of the prophets did your forefathers not persecute? Yes, they killed those who made announcement in advance concerning the coming [Greek, eleúseos] of the righteous One.”—Acts 7:52.
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Could Christ Return Without Being Seen?The Watchtower—1981 | December 1
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a If you would like to check all the 24 occurrences of parousía, they are as follows: Matthew 24:3, 27, 37, 39; 1 Corinthians 15:23; 16:17; 2 Corinthians 7:6, 7; 10:10; Philippians 1:26; 2:12; 1 Thessalonians 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 5:23; 2 Thessalonians 2:1, 8, 9; James 5:7, 8; 2 Peter 1:16; 3:4, 12; 1 John 2:28. It is also interesting to note that, of the five writers of the Christian Greek Scriptures who used the word parousía, three were of the group that raised the question to Jesus on the Mount of Olives.—Mark 13:3.
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Could Christ Return Without Being Seen?The Watchtower—1981 | December 1
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Then what is the alternative to Christ’s second coming in the flesh? Simply stated, it is his presence, or parousía, as the invisible Son of God, invested with Kingdom power and directing his attention to the earth. That is why he gave us visible signs by which to verify his invisible presence.—Matt. 24:3
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